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COMMENTARY / World
Mar 28, 2001

Australians try to sort good economic news from bad

SYDNEY -- With the government of Prime Minister John Howard still reeling from a by-election humiliation, along comes a morale booster -- a corporate deal that makes Australia the dominant player in global-resources trade. Comeback Kid Howard has done it again, although his chances of staying prime minister...
COMMENTARY
Mar 28, 2001

Understanding 'leadership' in Japan

An American scholar who recently proposed writing a book about leadership in Japan was told by his colleagues, "A book? You'll be lucky to find enough material to write a chapter, or more likely a newspaper article, on the subject!"
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 28, 2001

Cash, traditions standing between elderly and proper care

For 61-year-old Nayako Yamaguchi, taking care of her 66-year-old sister, Etsuko, is a job she does 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2001

Teito workers face charges over fatal subway crash

Five Teito Rapid Transit Authority employees who were in charge of maintenance at the time of a deadly train crash last March were accused of professional negligence on Tuesday as police handed the case over to prosecutors.
BUSINESS
Mar 28, 2001

100 trillion yen in stimulus yet to bear fruit

In a policy shift, the Bank of Japan has decided to give more weight to commercial banks' reserves in adjusting its monetary policy than to interest rates.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2001

Bill on data protection approved by Cabinet

The Cabinet approved Tuesday a privacy protection bill designed to set a legal framework to regulate the acquisition and dissemination of personal information for commercial use.
BUSINESS
Mar 28, 2001

Canon plans new digital camera

Canon Inc. said Tuesday that it will release the world's smallest digital camera with a 3x optical zoom lens in early April.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2001

10% of firms let staff take leave for volunteer activities

About one in 10 Japanese companies have adopted programs to allow employees to take leave so they can participate in volunteer activities, according to a recent survey by the Japan Federation of Employers Associations (Nikkeiren).
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Mar 28, 2001

Cherry grove has encyclopedic reach

If asked what the national tree of Japan is, I would answer sakura, the Japanese flowering cherry, which belongs to the very large genus Prunus. There are many places throughout the country where one can view these beautiful trees, but for those wishing to compare many different varieties at one time,...
COMMENTARY
Mar 27, 2001

The limits of public opinion

LONDON -- Speaking to the House of Commons on Nov. 11, 1947, Winston Churchill said, "No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."
CULTURE / Film
Mar 27, 2001

When justice looks the other way

Directors, as they age, usually must either move with the times or find themselves waiting by a silent phone. Since the days of D.W. Griffith, Hollywood has been full of once lordly directors who, having fallen out of fashion, are relegated to telling anecdotes about their glory days to deferential young...
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2001

Aggressive action could make Mori great

Japan has been dealing with its economic problems more aggressively than ever since the mid-February meeting in Sicily of finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven industrial powers.
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2001

With budget passed, focus turns to Mori

The 82.65 trillion yen fiscal 2001 state budget, featuring a record-high 48.66 trillion yen to fund policies to bolster the economy, was enacted Monday evening.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2001

Affiliate of Asahi Mutual Life liquidates due to sour loans

Asahi Jitsugyo, a real estate affiliate of Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co., is in the process of liquidation after racking up liabilities of 18.3 billion yen, Teikoku Databank said Monday.
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2001

5.2-magnitude aftershock rocks west; none injured

OSAKA -- A strong earthquake measuring an estimated magnitude of 5.2 jolted a wide area of western Japan on Monday morning, the largest aftershock from the powerful 6.4 magnitude quake that hit the region Saturday, the Meteorological Agency said.
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2001

War flick touting Japan's role in Indonesia's birth irks Jakarta

A new Japanese film depicting the role of Imperial Japanese Army soldiers in Indonesia's war for independence from the Netherlands highlights a stark difference in views between Indonesians and Japanese over the republic's 1945 birth.
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 27, 2001

Movement that weaves an otherworldly spell

It's not often that a dance production lives up to an ambitious title, but "Luminous," by Saburo Teshigawara and the dance company Karas, certainly does.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 27, 2001

States, nations and identities

ASIAN NATIONALISM, edited by Michael Leifer. Routledge, 2000, pp. 196, 17.99 British pounds (paper). In many ways, an understanding of nationalism is essential to understanding contemporary Asia. For many Asian nations, the colonial experience is only a generation away. They are still wrestling with...
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2001

Japan stuck between Mori and a hard place on farm trade

If the world's poorest countries harbor high expectations about any fresh trade concessions from industrialized countries at a key international conference in May, Japan will probably turn out to be a real letdown.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Mar 27, 2001

Tradition and innovation in modern Celtic music

Julie Murphy and Sharon Shannon are two of the most talented, forward-looking and musically challenging women in Celtic music. Both have captured the spirit of the times, setting a benchmark for a new generation of musicians in their respective traditions. They will soon be performing in Japan with fine...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 27, 2001

The Elephant Man's other side

You know the old adage about how consciousness operates? Tell a person not to think of elephants, and they won't be able to stop thinking about elephants.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 27, 2001

Poetry for every mood and season

RYOKAN: Selected Tanka, Haiku, translated by Sanford Goldstein, Shigeo Mizuguchi & Fujisato Kitajima. Kokodo, 2000, pp. 218, 2 ,000 yen. LOVE HAIKU: Masajo Suzuki's Lifetime of Love: Translations by Lee Gurga & Emiko Miyashita. Brooks Books, 2000, pp. 112, 1,600 yen. UTSUMUKU SEINEN /LOOKING DOWN:...
EDITORIALS
Mar 26, 2001

Act now to save Macedonia

Once again, there is the threat of war in the Balkans. This time, Macedonia is at risk. Once again, Albanian guerrillas are to blame. Their aim is to redraw the borders of the region. There is no need. They can be stopped; to avoid a wider war, the West should do just that.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Mar 26, 2001

Russians living 'la vida loca'

This semester I am teaching a Dostoevsky course. Implausible plots, stumbling dialogues, everybody in love with everybody, romantic triangles overlap like mating frogs, passions mount, money changes hands and is thrown into the fire -- the normal Dostoevsky stuff.
BUSINESS
Mar 26, 2001

Anxiety hangs over USJ ahead of launch

By Natsumi Mizumoto Kyodo News Many Kansai residents are counting on Universal Studios Japan to help revive Osaka's stagnant economy, but the higher the expectations, the greater the looming sense of anxiety as its launch next Saturday draws closer.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2001

Hiroshima quake toll up to 161 injured, two dead

OSAKA -- Water supplies remained suspended for some 38,000 households in Hiroshima Prefecture on Sunday, one day after a powerful earthquake that left two people dead and 161 injured.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’